The talented teenager’s body was spotted on a beach at North Queensferry less than 24 hours after she was reported missing.

Jasmine had been due to return to her private boarding school in York on Sunday night. But she was seen in Dalmeny – on the opposite side of the Forth.

Police were last night trying to piece together her final hours after recovering her body from the shore.

The grim discovery was made by a young boy yesterday morning.

Police have put up an incident tent where the body was found in the shadow of the Forth Bridge.

He saw the body lying on the beach as he looked out of the window of his home overlooking the Forth.

Hours earlier, police had issued an appeal for information about Jasmine – who lived in Stockbridge, Edinburgh , with her parents Charles and Sarah and her siblings – after she failed to appear at her school when expected.

She had been seen at the railway station in Dalmeny, on the south bank of the Forth, half an hour after she was due back at exclusive Queen Margaret’s School in York.

It is unclear how the youngster crossed the river, but a police van could be seen yesterday parked outside North Queensferry station - prompting speculation she boarded a second train.

Dalmeny Station: Jasmine was seen here in the days before she died.

Jasmine’s 47-year-old father, who works as an investment manager with an Edinburgh firm, was too upset to comment yesterday.

Investigators faced a race against the rising tide to process the scene for clues after Jasmine’s body was discovered shortly after 7am.

Locals in North Queensferry told how forensics officers were battling against the rising waters to complete their investigation on the shore of the town’s West Bay.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “It was a young boy who found the body. I think he’s around 11 or so but he is at primary school.

“He looked out the back window across the garden on to the bay and saw the body.

“He went and told his mum and she got herself into a bit of a state and came round to ours.

“My husband looked out of the window and saw that it was definitely a body so he called the police.

“They’ve been in asking questions all morning but said it will all be cleared away quite quickly because the tide is due in at 2pm.

“It’s such a shame for something like this to involve such a young girl.”

Mum: Sarah McQuaker.

Another neighbour told how he woke up to discover police officers at the end of his garden before noticing the young girl’s body.

The former fireman said: “I woke up and saw all the police down the end of the garden but didn’t really think anything of it.

“Then I saw the wee lassie’s body. It doesn’t really affect me because I’ve seen it all before but it’s certainly not how you plan to start your Monday morning.

“It’s a real shame that it’s someone that’s just 14 but we do see a lot of this here because of the bridge.”

Dozens of officers attended the grim scene and a single white forensics tent was erected as two officers stood guard for most of the morning.

Passers-by said the part of the beach where Jasmine’s body was found is hard to get to and is not frequented by dog walkers or runners because “it doesn’t lead anywhere”.

Four forensics officers scoured the scene for evidence and were forced to move the tent a few metres back as the tide continued to creep in.

The body was removed shortly before 1pm and taken away by private ambulance.

Queen Margaret's School in York: Jasmine was due back to the exclusive boarding school.

Jasmine’s school caters exclusively for girls and costs almost £30,000 a year in fees for boarders.

She had been awarded an art scholarship to attend the school.

The teenager, who has three younger siblings, was also a former pupil of Scotland’s oldest boarding and day prep school Cargilfield in Edinburgh.

In 2014, Jasmine was overall winner of the National Schools’ Handwriting Competition.

She is also understood to have been a keen swimmer and was a member of the Inverleith Swimming Club.

She was praised for her efforts as part of a team charity swim in autumn of 2013.

Jasmine was also a talented writer and had a short story about a train journey where she tries to place the face of a stranger published in the Cargilfield school newsletter in 2014.

Queen Margaret’s, which is run by head teacher Jessica Miles, has about 300 girls.

The school’s ethos is detailed in its prospectus as being to help the pupils “achieve excellence inside and outside the classroom”, “forge special friendships that will stay with them for the rest of their lives” and “develop an enthusiasm for independent thought, learning and research”.

The pupils at Queen Margaret’s were released on a half-term break on February 12 and were due to return for 8pm on Sunday but Jasmine failed to make it.

Police issued an appeal for information about the missing schoolgirl after she boarded a train bound for Dalmeny from Waverley at about 8.15pm on Sunday.

Her failure to return to school was described as being greatly out of character.

Jasmine was last seen wearing a waist-length turquoise Rab branded jacket with dark grey jeans and grey plimsolls which had a flower pattern on them.

Dad: Charles MacQuaker.

Her father Charles is a director with investment fund managers Walter Scott & Partners, based in Charlotte Square in Edinburgh’s New Town.

Walter Scott & Partners have been one of Scotland’s highest paying businesses in recent years.

Their highest-earning director received an annual pay package of £6.5million in 2013, and nearly £5million the following year.

The company provide equity portfolio services to investors around the world.

It’s understood Charles joined the firm in 1991.

A police spokesman confirmed last night that a body had been discovered as part of the search for the missing teenager.

He added that while a formal identification had still to be carried out, her family had been informed.

A post-mortem was due to be carried out to establish the cause of death, which police said was being treated as “unexplained”.